Case Studies

Al Shuaibah Seawater Desalination Plant

Seawater desalination using the reverse osmosis process is now the least expensive, most environmentally friendly desalination technology available today. Advancements in membrane technology, as well as improvements in pump efficiency, have helped make seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) a viable alternative to traditional thermal methods. However, the most significant advancement in recent years—making membrane-based desalination a truly cost-effective technology—has been the introduction of isobaric energy recovery systems, such as the Energy Recovery, Inc. (ERI) PX™ Pressure Exchanger (PX™) device.

Barcelona (Llobregat) Desalination Plant

Over the past decade, the city of Barcelona has endured lengthy spells of severe drought, creating serious water shortages. 

In 2008, the Catalonian region took emergency measures to supply its residents with potable water. At one point, the government placed major restrictions on the use of water for swimming pools and ordinary landscape irrigation.

Blue Hills Seawater Desalination Plant

The Bahamas Water & Sewerage Corporation (BWSC) Plant in Blue Hills was first built in 2006 by Consolidated Water Co. (CWCO). The plant supplied 18,444 m3/day of water to the 300,000 inhabitants on the island of New Providence in Nassau County. At the time, CWCO selected a competing supplier of energy recovery devices for its reverse osmosis (RO) process.

Cabo Cope Desalination Plant, Murcia, Spain

Drinking water to residents and water supply for farm usage reached critically low levels. Moreover, the high construction costs for new desalination plants threatened to increase the cost of water supply. Farmers, businesses and residents did not want to pay more for using desalinated water.

Cabo San Lucas Desalination Plant, Mexico

The Cabo San Lucas Desalination Plant provides municipal drinking water to approximately 40,000 local residents.

Dalian Petrochemical Plant, China

At 5,000 m3/day, the Dalian Petrochemical Company SWRO plant began operation in November 2003 as one of the largest SWRO installations in Asia.

Dhekelia Desalination Plant, Cyprus

The Dhekelia Plant was the first large scale (10,000 m3/day per train) to employ ERI PX technology which was implemented as a retrofit for the original Francis turbines energy recovery solution.

Eastern Municipal Water District, California

With 37 million residents, diminishing water resources due to droughts and agricultural misuse of water, as well as a tough economy and tight budget, California is a state of constrained resources. Yet with an extended coastline and abundance of inland water resources, desalination has emerged as a solution to purify these resources and address the demand for fresh water.

Ghalilah Desalination Plant, UAE

The Ghalilah plant was designed and built by Fisia Italimpianti. Among plants that use ERI PX Pressure Exchangers, this is the largest SWRO plant in the Gulf.

Hurghada Desalination Plant, Egypt

Ridgewood decided to retrofit its plant, which previously included a turbo charger energy recovery device with an Energy Recovery, Inc. (ERI) PX technology solution. Currently, plant capacity is at 1,500 m3/day.

Maspalomas Desalination Plant, Spain

Since 2006, ELMASA has retrofitted the EDR plant with PX Pressure Exchanger (PX) technology to provide a seawater reverse osmosis solution that has significantly reduced energy consumption and CO2 production by the plant.

Minjur Seawater Desalination Plant

Seawater desalination using the reverse osmosis process is now the least expensive, most environmentally friendly desalination method available today, and is increasingly employed to alleviate water shortages. Advancements in membrane technology and improvements in pump efficiency have helped make seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) a viable alternative to traditional thermal methods.

Perth Desalination Plant, Australia

To reduce energy and overall costs, ERI’s industry-standard PX technology was selected by the Degrémont Multiplex Joint Venture as the advanced energy recovery solution for the project. The first of 12 trains of the Perth SWRO Plant started producing fresh water in November 2006.

Regents de Mazarron Desalination Plant, Spain

In 2001, the Comunidad de Regantes de Mazarron Desaladora "Virgen del Milagro" Plant decided to reduce their power consumption by retrofitting their installed energy recovery device with the more efficient PX Pressure Exchanger ® Technology (PX®).

Sharm El-Sheikh Desalination Plant, Egypt

ERI’s PX technology allowed Intech to increase production to three times more than that of the original process. Moreover, capacity was increased within the same footprint, saving civil work, time and money.

YuHuan Desalination Plant, China

The plant, built by Beijing CNC Technology, Inc. will supply process water to new electrical power stations. The OEM’s decision to use ERI®’s PX Pressure Exchanger® Technology (PX®) for the 36,000 m3/day YuHuan desalination plant will prepare the Country for its 2008 Olympics.